Tsar Bomba - King of the bombs

On October 23, 1961, Soviet pilot A. E. Durnovtsev guides his Tu-95 Bomber towards the
Arctic Sea above Novaya Zemlya Island. This day will make atomic history, not as an
advancement in nuclear science, but rather as a statement of intimidation by the Soviet
Union to the United States in those tense days now known as
The Cold War.

The bomber is carrying a secret cargo that will soon make the world take notice of Russia
as a serious nuclear threat to the survial of mankind. For on this day a nuclear weapon
rides into history as the largest thermonuclear bomb ever constructed and detonated named,
"Tsar Bomba...King of the Bombs."

The events of the Cold War leading up to Tsar puts a strain on world peace as the U.S.
and Soviet Union play a deadly game of military and political "cat and mouse".

Jan. 1960 - Khrushchev's speech at the United Nations for support
of "wars of national liberation" is viewed as Communist intervension into third world
countries.

Jan. 1961 - JFK's in his inauguration speech responds to Khrushchev's
speech stating, "...oppose any foe to assure the survival and success of liberty".

April 1961 - CIA-backed invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs fails
making the United States appear weak in military strength.

The events of the Cold War leading up to Tsar puts a strain on world peace as the U.S.
and Soviet Union play a deadly game of military and political "cat and mouse".

On July 10, 1961 Nikita Khruschev meets with Sakharov, then the senior weapon designer,
and directs him to develop a 100 megaton bomb. This device had to be ready for a test
series due to begin in September so that the series would create maximum political impact.

Aug 1961 - The Berlin Wall is erected by the Soviets dividing Berlin
into two separate cities: East Berlin (communist) and West Berlin (democratic).

Sept 1961 - President Kennedy's letter in the Sept issure of LIFE advises Americans
to build fallout shelters. For an entire year the American public is obsessed with
"fallout shelter mainia".

Tsar was developed in a remarkably short time, just fourteen weeks after the initiation
of its design. It weights in at 27 metric tons!

A scaled down version of the original is produced by replacing the uranium fusion tamper
(which amplifies the reaction) with one made of lead to eliminate fast fission by the
fusion neutrons, hence reducing the power of the original version. A 50 megaton bomb was
now ready to be detonated.

The test method for Tsar was a Parachute Retarded Airburst dropped from a bomber at 4000
meter altitude.

October 23, 1961 the Soviet Union unexpectedly explodes Tsar. The impact of a 100 meg ton
atomic bomb startles the world because Khrushchev had assured President Kennedy in June
1961 that the Soviet Union wouldn't test nuclear devices if the United States didn't.

Some interesting facts regarding Tsar Bomba:

A bomb this size is virtually useless militarily. The efficient method to destroy
a city is with many smaller bombs rather than one huge bomb.

If detonated at full scale the yield of 100 megatons (100Mt--equal to one hundred
million tons of TNT). The explosive force of this bomb would have been approximately
6,500 times the 15-16 kiloton bomb detonated at Hiroshima. It would have increased
the world's total fission fallout since the invention of the atomic bomb by 25%.

Tsar was not the "end to all" in the days of the Cold War. It proved that the delivery of
nuclear weapons by long range aircraft was inefficient in time war. An immediate response
to nuclear attack was needed, something that was fast, reliable and cost effective to
maintain. The resulting solution was the creation of new nuclear weapon delivery systems
of war...the intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

Exactly one year from the Tsar's detonation in October 1961 to October 1962 the United
States is on the brink of nuclear war as the Cuban Missile Crisis marks another chapter
in atomic history.